Methods and apparatus for providing information associated with network function (nf) instances of a 5g mobile network

Network equipment for use in a mobile network, the network equipment comprising:

• one or more processors;
• one or more non-transitory memories;
• program instructions stored in the one or more non-transitory memories, the program instructions comprising a repository function;
• one or more interfaces for communication with a network function (NF) repository function (NRF) and a network data analytics;
• the one or more processors being operative in accordance with the program instructions comprising the repository function to:
• for each one of a plurality of NF instances, receive information associated with an NF instance and store the information in memory, the information including at least identification information associated with the NF instance;
• for each one of the plurality of NF instances, receive a loading indication of the NF instance from the network data analytics function, the loading indication indicating a current loading of the NF instance;
• receive, the NRF, a message which indicates a request for information associated with a selected plurality of NF instances of an indicated NF type;
• retrieve, from the memory, information associated with the selected plurality of NF instances based on the indicated NF type;
• and
• cause a message which indicates a response to the request to be sent to the NRF, the response including the retrieved information associated with the selected plurality of NF instances, the retrieved information including at least the identification information and the loading indication for each NF instance of the selected plurality of NF instances of the indicated NF type.

A method comprising:

• at a network function (NF) repository function (NRF),
• receiving, from a requesting network function (NF), a message which indicates a discovery request for an NF instance corresponding to an indicated NF type;
• sending, to a network profile repository function, a message which indicates a request for information associated with one or more NF instances corresponding to the indicated NF type;
• receiving, from the network profile repository function, a message which indicates a response to the request, the response including the information associated with the one or more NF instances corresponding to the indicated NF type;
• and
• sending, to the requesting NF, a message which indicates a discovery response to the discovery request, the message including the information associated with a selected one of the one or more NF instances corresponding to the indicated NF type.

A method comprising:

• at a network function (NF) binding exposure function,
• receiving, from a network repository function (NRF), information associated with a binding between a user equipment (UE) and a serving NF instance of the UE and storing the information in memory, for each one of a plurality of such bindings between UEs and serving NF instances;
• receiving, from a requesting NF, a message which indicates a request for information associated with a serving NF instance of a UE, the request including a UE identifier of the UE;
• retrieving, from the memory based on the UE identifier, information associated with the serving NF instance of the UE;
• and
• sending, to the requesting NF, a message which indicates a response to the request, the response including the information associated with the NF instance.